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14 Geo. Immigr. L.J. 35 (1999-2000)
Temporary Protection in the European Union: A Chronology

handle is hein.journals/geoimlj14 and id is 45 raw text is: TEMPORARY PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A CHRONOLOGY KAROLINE KERBER* I. INTRODUCTION While temporary protection' has been granted by many states outside Europe for many years,2 the term first appeared in Europe during the conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, which began in the early 1990s. In this context, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described temporary protection as a flexible and pragmatic means of affording needed protection to large numbers of people fleeing human rights abuses and armed conflict in their country of origin, who might otherwise have overwhelmed asylum procedures.'3 The lengthy duration of the crisis and the large numbers of persons that temporarily sought refuge in European states have revealed that cooperation among states, possibly leading to the harmoniza- tion of domestic legislation, is necessary. This article aims to outline, particularly to the American reader, the development of temporary protection in the European Union (EU). II. FIRST STEPS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A EUROPEAN CONCEPT OF TEMPORARY PROTECTION A. The War in the Former Yugoslavia Since 1992, when the war in the Former Yugoslavia began, thousands of individuals from the Balkans moved northwest into the states of the EU in * The author works at the Saxon Ministry of Justice in Dresden, Germany, Department of European Union and International Public Law. She wrote Die voriubergehende Schutzgewihrung in der Euro- paischen Union [Temporary Protection in the European Union], published by the Leipziger Universti- atsverlag in 1998. All opinions expressed in this article are purely personal and in no way represent the point of view of the Saxon Ministry of Justice. 1. Initially also referred to as temporary refuge. 2. See GuY S. GOODWIN-GILL, THE REFUGEE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW 196 (2d ed. 1996); WALTER KALIN, UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES [hereinafter UNHCR], TOWARDS A CONCEPT OF TEMPORARY PROTECTION 6-8 (1996) (citing examples in Africa, Asia and Central America); SECRE- TARIAT OF THE INTER-GOVERNMENTAL CONSULTATIONS ON ASYLUM, REFUGEE & MIGRATION POLICIES IN EUR., N. Am. & AUSTL., REPORT ON TEMPORARY PROTECTION IN STATES IN EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA 249 (1995) [hereinafter IGC]; UNHCR, THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S REFUGEES: IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS 95 (1995); Morten Kjaerum, Opinion, Temporary Protection in Europe in the 1990s, 6 INT'L J. REFUGEE L. 444-56 (1994). 3. See Note on International Protection, UNHCR, 45th Sess., at para. 45, U.N. Doc. A/AC.96/830 (1994); Note on International Protection, UNHCR, 44th Sess., at para. 25, U.N. Doc. A/AC.96/815 (1993).